Anything But Chocolate
by Anya Urameshi
Summary: After experiencing the WORST Valentine's Day of his life, Lambo just wishes the day would end. RebornLambo with hints of 8059.


Lambo stumbled into the base at a quarter after six feeling like hell had chewed him up, decided he tasted like crap, and spit him back out.

After a rather eventful day of being accosted by his chocolate-wielding female classmates (and male classmates, and teachers, and subordinates, and random people on the street....), getting horribly sick from all of the sugar he ingested (he knew it was stupid to continue after the fifth box, but he hated seeing the disappointed looks those girls gave him when he refused; he knew all too well how THAT felt, after all), being catapulted back into the past (which always disoriented him and left him wondering why he couldn't quite remember much of anything about the last ten years for the duration of his visits), attacked by Bianchi (one of these days he was going to kill that woman, family or not), carried around like a rag doll by the young Vongola (which did NOTHING for his stomach -already rolling about like a freaking Ferris Wheel of death- or his headache -splitting pain that resembled a series of repeated blows to the head courtesy of his wrench-wielding sister- except make both of them worse) who was at least half his size despite actually being the same age, and finally being catapulted back into the present to find that his younger self had eaten most of his gifts (there IS a God!).

And everyone wondered why he absolutely DESPISED the holiday. Sure, he got free candy and lots of attention (two of the things he had craved the most when he was little), but he hated the whole concept behind it. A holiday for romance was no good if you had nobody to spend it with.

A metallic taste surged up into Lambo's mouth and he all-but ran to an innocuous vase that happened to be sitting on a table in the hallway which he then proceeded to throw up the contents of his stomach into.

"Ugh..." he grumbled, stumbling back with the artifact in hand. "My, my...better wash this out before somebody sees it..."

He trudged down the hall and into the kitchen, where he attempted to clean the vase out. Unfortunately, the overpowering smell of vomit and Dawn soap only served to worsen his raging headache, and Lambo had to take a break to hunt out the industrial strength aspirin that Gokudera kept in stock for reasons that Lambo didn't like to think about (he would never be able to look at that couch, or Yamamoto, the same way again).

After mentally reminding himself that "No, Lambo, you CANNOT down the whole bottle of aspirin because then you will DIE and everyone will be pissed at you AGAIN.", Lambo proceeded to grab a glass of water to wash down the two pills that was the acceptable dosage for adults and children 12 years and older before stumbling off to his room (the vase could just go and screw itself for all he cared) where he proceeded to fall onto his bed, without bothering to change or even remove his shoes, and bury his face in his pillow.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but knew he must have because when he opened his eyes the clock on his nightstand read 10:52 p.m. and Lambo was surprised to find that somebody had come in during his impromptu nap and pulled the covers up over him.

Moving into a sitting position (and noting with sheer happiness that his headache was GONE!), Lambo gazed around his room wondering if he should get something to eat (he hadn't eaten anything non-candy-related since that morning) and finally realized that something beside his clock was sitting on his nightstand.

With a small frown, he reached over to pick up the object. It was soft and fuzzy, like a stuffed animal, and Lambo maneuvered himself out of bed so he could turn the light on.

It WAS a stuffed animal, he quickly noted; a stuffed cow holding a heart. Lambo figured that whoever had come into his room must've left it, which meant that it was probably for him.

"I wonder...." he murmured, turning the cow around in his hands. There was no card or note of any kind that might have indicated who the gift had come from, and for the life of him Lambo couldn't think of anyone in the base who would give it to him (except maybe Ipin, but she had already given him chocolate-flavored friendship-ramen earlier that day, which he still hadn't touched, and probably wouldn't ever).

Suddenly remembering the vase that he had left in the sink, Lambo let out a sigh and trudged out of his room to the kitchen, hoping that nobody had seen it yet. He didn't even realize that he was still cradling the stuffed cow in his arms.

As the door to the kitchen slid open to admit the tired Thunder Guardian, he noticed the other figure seated calmly at the table and paused for a moment to stare at the man in confusion.

"Reborn?" he whispered, blinking slowly at the man. "What are you doing up?"

Reborn ignored him, as per the usual, and Lambo let out a frustrated sigh, rolling his eyes heavenward.

"Fine," he grumbled, heading for the sink, "DON'T tell me. Not like I even care anyways....."

"Were you the one who threw up in the vase?" Reborn asked, causing Lambo to freeze mid-step as panic washed over him.

"Uh......no?"

"Yes, you did," the Archaebaleno corrected in a bored tone. "It's already been washed and put back in its correct place."

"Sorry," Lambo murmured, biting his lip as a stab of guilt hit him. He wondered who had got stuck cleaning up his mess. He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of milk, the butter tub, and some slices of cheese. "I'm making grilled cheese, you want some?"

Reborn didn't reply, and Lambo knew that the man was back to ignoring him. He sighed again as he pulled bread out of the pantry before wandering over to light the stove and place the flat-skillet on it. Once his three grilled cheese sandwiches were done, he moved to sit at the table (as far away from Reborn as possible) and began eating.

"Have you regressed back ten years?"

Lambo jerked his head up to give Reborn a blank look. "Huh?"

"The doll," Reborn explained, nodding towards the stuffed cow that Lambo had set beside his plate without thinking. The Thunder Guardian felt his face heat up with embarrassment as he grabbed the doll and put it on his lap, out of sight.

"Uh....it was in my room when I woke up," Lambo mumbled, wishing that Reborn would go back to ignoring him. "I didn't realize I was still carrying it around."

Reborn gave him a dry look before going back to his book and Lambo breathed a sigh of relief, before hurrying through the rest of his meal, jumping up, and all-but running out of the room, taking the stuffed-cow with him.

Over the edge of his book, Reborn watched the fifteen-year-old's retreat with an amused expression before returning his eyes to the page he had been accidentally rereading for the past fifteen-to-twenty minutes without noticing.

"Guess he liked it," he mused before finally turning the page.

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A/N: Inspired by my own feelings on the holiday and this really cute cow-plushie I saw at Wal-Mart that I wish I could've bought (or that somebody would buy for me).


End file.
